My mini doxie pup turned 14 weeks old today, and she's chewing everything! I try to redirect her with a toy, but it doesn't seem to help. I can see some teeth breaking threw the surface, so I know she's just wanting something to chew on. She's already chewed through our phone cord once. She tries to chew blankets, pillows, me, keys, anything and everything she can get her mouth on! Is there anything I can do to help her because the redirecting really isn't working at all, and those puppy teeth hurt! lol I really don't want to crake ther because I don't want her to think the crate is bad, but I feel like I'm running out of options.

Cram

June 30th, 2007, 12:03 PM

You could try getting her something to soothe her mouth, like a special teething toy that you fill with water and freeze. Alternatively, I know other people who have had success with just soaking a stuffy or rope bone in water and freezing it. We gave Helix frozen raw meaty bones, but he wasn't super destructive as a wee pup. Now he's 8 months old and he's suddenly decided that all of his stuffies must die! oh well, I'm pretty sure it's just a phase...

hazelrunpack

June 30th, 2007, 02:48 PM

Old washcloths or small towels dampened in water and then thrown in the freezer are good to offer, too--just watch so she doesn't gnaw a piece off, though. We used to keep a number of them in the freezer at the same time--they don't stay cold all that long, so you'll need a few. The nice part is that they don't take up much room in the freezer and if they get dirty, you just throw them in the wash. :thumbs up

As for sharp puppy teeth--I highly recommend buying a pair of cheap bicycling gloves. They cover the back and palm of the hand, but leave most of the finger bare (they look like gloves with the fingers cut off). I woudn't raise another teething puppy without at least a couple pair of them on hand. :D It's amazing how much they help! No more hamburger hands. :o

want4rain

June 30th, 2007, 04:28 PM

so we went through the exact same thing with Mister!!

some thing we did that helped- sprayed EVERYTHING and i mean the walls... chair legs... cabnets... with bitter apple. any time he put his mouth on it we told him NO! and when he chewed HIS things we told him he was a super ultra mega vicious crazy GOOD PUPPY!! then when he would bite US we would say OUCH!! really high pitched and then totally stop everything and just look at him like he bit my fingers off. if he didnt stop what he was doing then we would leave him in the kitchen by himself. if he bit more than 2X then we left him in the kitchen.

some toys we had for him-

just too big raw hide bones (make sure you rebake them when they get soft so have a few to rotate)
pigs ears
stuffies
squeekies
rattlies
kongs of a few different shapes
balls

the pigs ears worked for when nothing else does, they taste soooo yummy!

we also handfed Mister as a puppy. that may have had an inpact??

-ashley

whitbit317

July 3rd, 2007, 10:55 PM

AHH!! I'm gonna go crazy! It hasn't been that bad the past few days but tonight it seems like she's making up for lost time. It's mainly me that she's biting tonight. She drew blood on me for the first time. She's drawn blood when biting my dad before but that's cause he was rough-housing with her. He deserved that one lol. I finalyl put her in her crate cause I didn't know what else to do. I feel bad for doing that because I'm not going to bed yet and she's in there growling and barking at me so that I know she's highly displeased. I'm ignoring her as best I can. When she would bite me I'd tell her no loudly and say "no bite" but it didn't seem to phase her at all. What do i do? Is crating her a bad idea? I don't want the crate to be associated with punishment because I want her to sleep there until she's fully house trained. I just didn't know what else to do:shrug:

luckypenny

July 3rd, 2007, 11:19 PM

Please don't take my response the wrong way. I mean no disrespect and only wish to help. Your dog sounds like she hasn't been getting any consistency in training and perhaps is a little spoiled.

I would think that rough housing should be avoided at all times. Not with you, your father, no one. Did she bite your hand? How did she get access to it? Saying, "no" is not enough, you have to teach her what no means. Is she getting any sort of exercise at all? Walking, running off-leash, etc? I'm also a little concerned about you feeling "bad" because she's barking & growling at you and because she's "displeased" :confused: . If a spoiled, bratty child bit you, then threw a nasty tantrum telling you off, would you feel bad too? Not likely, I hope. I think you need some help with training your little girl. Have you considered a trainer/behaviorist? The fact that she's biting to draw blood, barking and growling is setting off some alarm bells here. I don't mean to scare you but growling? at 14 weeks old? directed at you? Please get yourselves some help to resolve these issues soon because it will only get more difficult later on.

There's a really good book you may want to read: After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar:

From the Publisher
AFTER You Get Your Puppy covers the last three developmental deadlines that your puppy needs to meet before he is five months old: 1. Your puppy should be socialized to a wide variety of people, especially children, men, and strangers, before he is twelve weeks old. 2. Your puppy must learn to inhibit the force of his bites and develop a "soft mouth" before he is eighteen weeks old. 3. You must prevent predictable adolescent problems. Veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar is the original creator of off-leash puppy classes, which sparked the revolution for positive, reward-based, dog-friendly dog training.

Good luck, be patient but consistent, and let us know how she progresses.

whitbit317

July 3rd, 2007, 11:42 PM

Lucky,

She was sitting in my lap and that's how she got access to my hand to bite it. I told her no repeatedly with no response. After a few minutes I put her in her crate and she cried for a bit but is sleeping now. My father has always kinda made it a habit to rough-house with our pets and as a puppy I'm sure she thinks its normal to bite people now, but I find it annoying. I've tried asking him not to do it but to no avail. I'm a college student so I'm only home for the summer. I work a lot, but I do work with her while I'm home, but your right, there's not enough consistancy because I'm the only one willing to really work with her. I'm sorry for the confusion, but I didn't feel bad that she was whining in her crate I felt bad for putting her in there as a punishment and for putting her there before I was ready to go to bed. Generally she only goes in the crate when we're sleeping or if we have to leave the house. I've managed not to use the crate for discipline until tonight, and my only worry with that was that she would stop sleeping in it(she just now started sleeping almost the whole night) because she associated it with punishment. I know that my family isn't willing to invest on obedience training with her because in the past we've never done it. But, in the past I've always been living at home and invested a lot of time with the dogs and their training. I'm not calling myself a qualified trainer by any means, but with the animals we've had I've always been able to at least have them be well-mannered. Not neccesarily doing fancy tricks or anything, but well mannered at least. I'm considering enrolling her in a class at my local petsmart and dishing out the cash myself, but haven't decided yet.

luckypenny

July 4th, 2007, 12:03 AM

I think a puppy class would be a wonderful idea for her. Try to encourage the rest of your family to tag along as well so they can learn the importance of consistency. And tell them it's for her own wellbeing and safety.

Sure you can use the crate for a time-out. But it shouldn't be for longer than a minute or two or she'll forget why she's in there. When she bites, yell, I mean really yell, "ow" and turn your back and walk away from her immediately. Go wash your hands, make a coffee, wipe the kitchen counter, anything as long as it's at least for a minute or two and you're ignoring her while your back is turned to her. If she tries to get your attention, continue to ignore her until she calms down. When she does, calmly say, "good girl" and find something she can play with quietly. If she's biting, I think rough housing should be off-limits (actually, rough housing with dogs just shouldn't be permitted period) as should tug games. I would also reconsider holding her in your laps. You can get down to her level but I'd discourage bringing her up to yours until she learns to respect you first.

The book I recommended really should be a must-read for puppy owners even though you may have been through it before. Not all dogs have the same characters/temperaments and the lessons you'll find there help to avoid any unwanted behavior. Try your local library, they may have it seeing it's such a popular book.